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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26705941">Staring at the Sun</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/xXTRASHCATXx/pseuds/xXTRASHCATXx'>xXTRASHCATXx</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Borderlands (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Compliant, F/F, Secret Crush, Slow Burn, as of such it has Lilith/Roland as well, background Brick/Mordecai</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 06:21:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,753</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26705941</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/xXTRASHCATXx/pseuds/xXTRASHCATXx</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>She’s beautiful, she’s gorgeous, comparing her to a sunset would be an insult to her blinding magnitude.</p><p>She’s more than that. She’s the scorching sun at high noon and Tannis is standing in the middle of nowhere, staring up at it. Cracked earth underneath her feet grounding her as green eyes burn out of her skull.</p><p>Was she being dramatic? Perhaps. But Tannis’s mind takes things to the nth degree and this reaction was no different.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lilith/Patricia Tannis</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Burnt Retinas</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>It's been so long since I wrote a Borderlands fic and I've been just hungering for it. Probably going to write a lot of Borderlands fic in the next couple months to make up for lost time as I try to get my mojo back.</p><p>This is going to be my first ever go at a truly slow slowburn. This fic is split into a series and since this one covers the first game only and it's canon compliant it's going to be pining and missed opportunity all the way through because Lilith/Roland.</p><p>I've never done a series where the couple isn't together in a couple chapters, it'll be an interesting new thing to try!</p><p>Check out my twitter, <a href="https://twitter.com/catlikeacat">catlikeacat</a>, to see my art as well!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She’s beautiful, she’s gorgeous, comparing her to a sunset would be an insult to her blinding magnitude.</p><p>She’s more than that. She’s the scorching sun at high noon and Tannis is standing in the middle of nowhere, staring up at it. Cracked earth underneath her feet grounding her as green eyes burn out of her skull.</p><p>Was she being dramatic? Perhaps. But Tannis’s mind takes things to the nth degree and this reaction was no different.</p><p>The reality was she was just an awkward scientist currently gawking down one of four Vault Hunters like a live Eridian had just wandered in and offered to take her to their leader. A fond fantasy of hers, albeit not one that was going to be happening anytime soon, unfortunately.</p><p>The ringing in her ears that she didn’t even realize was there started subsiding, letting Tannis actually hear the voice of the blazing angel that had walked in.</p><p>“Uhm, is she… is she alright?” her voice sounded concerned, Tannis idly wondered why.</p><p>“She looks like a flashbang went off,” the soldier approached her, examining her carefully just an inch closer than she’d like, “Should we try to get her back to New Hav-”</p><p>He’d probably look offended at the way she jerked away from her if he wasn’t too busy being shocked that she’d moved at all. Finally beginning to blink her bloodshot eyes again, irritated and bloodshot at the harsh, sandy wind that seemed to saturate every corner of Pandora.</p><p>“Yo, ojos locos, you speak Anglish?” the masked man asked, “Or like, Truxican?”</p><p>Something in that snapped Tannis out of her trance, “I speak eight languages across two galaxies, most of them dead. If you wish to converse in Tlatin or ancient Elpissan I can oblige.”</p><p>The thunderous laughter from the back nearly sent her back into her social coma as the formerly scowling big guy laughed at the sentence that very much wasn’t a joke. But perhaps he was laughing at his own, “I speak Skag Tlatin that close enough?”</p><p>Her face crinkled in annoyance, “No.”</p><p>“Helena Pierce sent us,” the Siren took a hold of the situation, wiggling the formerly unnoticed key fragment in her hand, “I’m Lilith, yes the tattoos are real. We come bearing ‘a friggin’ piece of the Vault key’.”</p><p>Attention pulled back to Lilith from the men, Tannis was once again affixed. The other no doubt thinking that she was on the cusp of slipping back into that dead eyed, unblinking silence.</p><p>But instead Tannis slid around the desk and approached Lilith with intent.</p><p>Where Tannis’s fingertips stuck out from the fingerless gloves burned against Lilith’s skin, like she was sticking her hand into a bucket of lava. But unlike the scientifically unfeasible phenomenon of “lava that can be contained within a bucket and touched by human hands” the unpleasant sensation could not deter the curious hand.</p><p>“Wow, okay, so I guess this is happening now,” Lilith’s face went as red as her hair, looking to her teammates for help that wasn’t coming.</p><p>Maneuvering and twisting Lilith’s arm around, Tannis was activated.</p><p>“How long have you been a Siren? Since birth? Was it recent? Somewhere in the median? What exactly are the parameters of your powers, I’ve read many articles on the variations within the supposed ‘six’ but they’re by such duplicitous publications I can scarcely say that they’re even remotely credible. Do you believe it was the Vault which brought you here to Pandora, an invisible force compelling you to dive into a planet sized dumpster with only the raving dreams of madmen to guide you where I may only possibly exist? Well, I know it exists, but the salivating masses of this hellhole think it merely legend. The second piece of the key though, upon your acquisition of it, did your powers react in any way? Glowing, tingling, burning? I imagine Siren powers feel like tingling. Did it light up the key in any way? Activate it?”</p><p>Lilith could do little more than gape open mouthed at that like a confused fish at the barrage of too-personal inquiries, “I- I was like seven? Uhm, my powers are this like… I walk?”</p><p>Roland put a hand on Tannis’s shoulder to try and calm her but only found her jerking away like a shy newborn fawn again, looking at him with big, distrusting eyes. It managed to get her away from Lilith though. Relief melting into her face.</p><p>“Sorry but I don’t think Lilith knows much more about her powers than you do,” Roland tried to stroke the ego of the nervous woman, “Hell, you’ve probably read articles and books that are way more informative than anything Lil’ can give you.”</p><p>“The studies on Siren powers are dreadfully abysmal, penned by naught but knuckle dragging cavemen who haven’t even seen a single Eridian artifact in their deplorable, miserable lives?” Tannis came back, harder than one would expect from someone who just recoiled in horror at a mere touch, “How else am I to obtain this indispensable knowledge? Might I traipse on down to the dregs of the ECHOnet? Ostentatious websites riddled with low resolution GIFs, proclaiming to know every corner of the enigmas that constitute our macrocosm? All written out in Comic Sans?</p><p>“Sorry, sorry,” Roland backed down, extending a hand before realizing that was a futile effort and retracting it, “Let’s just reset all this a bit. I’m Roland. Ex-Atlas but the clothes probably gave that away.”</p><p>That they did. Tannis eyeing him up and down a few times. Turned away from the blinding light of Lilith, she found Roland quite handsome himself. Perhaps if he wasn’t up against a real life, living, breathing Siren he would be more of a target of her attention.</p><p>Whether he was emboldened by Roland breaking the awkward investigation of Lilith or simply he felt out of place not introducing himself, one of the remaining two men spoke.</p><p>“While we’re at it, I’m Mordecai. Best sniper this side of the galaxy. Got a bird named Bloodwing, he’s outside,” the scrawny man said, delivering one pat to the big guy’s chest, “And this is Brick.”</p><p>“I punch things!”</p><p>“He punches things.”</p><p>“Considering you have been foisted upon me by Pierce, I will assume you already know my name,” Tannis didn’t bother introducing herself, turning her attention back to Lilith. Or, more specifically what was in her hands.</p><p>Reaching up and taking it from her, Tannis began examining it carefully. The first bit of endearment she managed to pull from the intruders, green eyes lighting up and she ignored them and started pulling out notes to compare. A more palatable form of her passion for what she does.</p><p>Granted, a bit of that faded as they watched her lift the fragment to her mouth and give it a firm lick.</p><p>“Fascinating, tastes of black cherry. The composition is exactly identical to the last fragment that tumbled into my possession. How would one connect them, I wonder? It is like a magnet? Does it require an external force? Perhaps a bonding agent… no, no, Eridians certainly wouldn’t rely on such brute force…”</p><p>Brick spoke, making Tannis wonder if his former silence was merely reticence and a desire to not reveal exactly how much of this was managing to fly over his head, “There’s more than one key?”</p><p>“No, the key’s in pieces,” Tannis watched the huge man melt under her stare.</p><p>Tannis briefly wondered what it felt like to be embarrassed. Or wrong. Or anything less than the smartest person in the room at any given point in time.</p><p>But not for long as she already began devising their next move. </p><p>As much as she was deeply unfond of having company she had to admit that having four overeager mercenaries standing in front of her truly was ideal. If Tannis knew one thing about Vault Hunters, it was that the good ones could do damn well near anything.</p><p>And considering this motley crew included a Siren, Tannis had a couple things she hadn’t had in a long time.</p><p>Faith and hope.</p><p>With that, she divulged information she normally wouldn’t, “Incredible! With your brain, and all the hurdles that implies, you have correctly identified a piece of the Vault Key. I want you to leave this with me, so that I may run some more tests.  The one I possessed before now is in the hands of Crazy Earl, along with many of my unmentionables. Do you like bugs?”</p><p>Her eyes were wide as she waited for an answer to a question everyone else assumed was hypothetical.</p><p>Mercifully, they began to leave her company shortly after receiving the coordinates on their ECHO devices. The men wandering off as a group, already squabbling among themselves about who would get the most kills. Absolutely barbaric. Tannis knew better than anyone else the line between bandits and Vault Hunters was razor thin.</p><p>Perhaps one of them, with his riches from the Vault, would wander off and become a Bandit King himself. Big one, perhaps. As she’d thought earlier, they’re always the ones who seem to do it.</p><p>Only one lagged behind the others, looking back at Tannis with a curious stare that burned her skin.</p><p>“Hey, so,” Lilith wandered back over, “I maybe can’t answer, like, thirty questions at once but if you want to like. I don’t know. Study me? Non-intrusively? I’d be okay with that.”</p><p>Tannis quirked an eyebrow, “Was that an attempt to flirt with me?”</p><p>“No, no! I just…” Lilith flushed again, hands raised, “I’ve always had a lot of questions about myself and not a lot of answers or really. And if you think Sirens are connected to the Vaults…”</p><p>“I do,” Tannis shuffled through her notes a bit before pulling out some slightly faded photos of statues, pointing at them like they meant anything to Lilith, “Siren symbolism is intertwined into so many elements of Eridian ruins.”</p><p>She could tell Lilith was mostly just confused by the statues of faceless winged women thrust into her hands.</p><p>Grabbing something a bit more simple she held out some drawings of her own making.</p><p>Lilith did understand those, the twisting patterns so close and yet not quite lining up with the markings that twisted up and down her left side.</p><p>Tannis clarified, “These are my best approximations of the patterns I have found on dozens of Eridian ruin excursions. Sorry for their inaccuracies. Drawing is for shut-ins with cheese snack stained fingers so it’s a skill I’ve never attempted to hone. Especially since I have not been able to obtain cheese snacks in my time on Pandora.”</p><p>Lilith wasn’t sure if that was a joke or not and wisely restrained herself from laughing.</p><p>Tannis simply went on, “While there are not a large quantity of pictures of Siren tattoos available on the ECHOnet there were more than enough to confirm my suspicions.”</p><p>Yellow eyes lit up, Lilith asked, “Do you… think you would be able to tell me much about my powers?”</p><p>“I must confess that it is not entirely up to me,” Tannis tapped a finger on the desk, “I would say a contributing factor would be the potential lack of information readily available to me on Pandora. As I was stranded here by the slack jawed imbeciles that run Dahl I have not been able to access properly if there is information about Eridians on other planets nor if Pandora was even their origin.”</p><p>“Oh…” Lilith deflated.</p><p>Comforting people. Never one of Tannis’s strong suits.</p><p>“There, there,” she monotonely imitated from the countless times she’d heard someone mutter those pointless and frankly illogical words to a distressed comrade, “Perhaps the Vault will contain the answers you crave. As much as every yokel on this planet thinks the Vault a myth, I am smarter than that and I can assure you that I fully believe that it is real. And here.”</p><p>Tannis pointed at the ground between them, like somehow Lilith wouldn’t know she meant Pandora.</p><p>Every fleck of condescending rolled off Lilith’s back, giving Tannis a dazzling smile, “You know what? You’re right. I mean it, you probably hear that a lot but I feel like the Vault’s here too. Except my reasoning for that is a lot more gut instinct than like… knowing things.”</p><p>“At any rate, although I may potentially not be able to uncover much about your… condition I believe it would be valuable,” Tannis doubled back, “Call ahead. I abhor sudden drop-ins.”</p><p>“Didn’t we… just suddenly drop-in today?”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>For a second Lilith just stared at Tannis, wondering if she should apologize or just leave.</p><p>Eventually her brain decided to just leave.</p><p>Tannis crept to the door to watch Lilith trot to catch up with the three men who were nearly out of sight. So caught up in their own machismo that Tannis wasn’t entirely sure if they’d even noticed that their fourth was missing.</p><p>In the golden light of the real sun setting, Tannis couldn’t help but feel like she was drowning in a pool of lava. Sinking more and more as she thought about the tenuous connections she’d just forced with the bright eyed woman.</p><p>Tannis tried to ignore the way her eyes burned.</p><p>Itching for her to claw them out and save herself the ordeal of being forced to witness the woman again.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. She’s Not That Weird (She’s A Little Weird)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Tannis dialogue makes these chapters like 1k+ longer than expected, every single time lmao</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“So you’re really gonna tell me that she didn’t give you even the smallest amount of heebie-jeebies?” Roland started loading up the truck with their latest haul, “Not even a little?”</p><p>“Wow, really didn’t expect you to be a ‘heebie-jeebies’ kinda guy,” Lilith teased, pulling the last poorly patched bag up with her, “And no. She’s not like, going to be dissecting me or anything if that’s what you’re worried about.”</p><p>Lilith wondered exactly how long Roland had been mulling this over and wondered why he was bringing it up now. Gathering up their haul from the day’s missions, ending on the easy note of weird not-dog retrieval.</p><p>“Look, Atlas taught me one thing and one thing only,” Roland incorrectly stated, holding up a single finger, “Don’t trust corporate scientists.”</p><p>“Doubt she’s been a corporate scientist in a long, long time,” Mordecai crossed his arms, “I’m with Lil’, what’s the worst she’s gonna do? Prod her too hard with a stick? It’s not like she’s got some big Dahl lab hidden away somewhere.”</p><p>“What if she does?” Brick asked.</p><p>“Shh, you ain’t helping,” Mordecai lightly chastised him.</p><p>He was right, that only put Roland even more on edge, “Look, I’m just saying, if someone’s too smart for their own good then they’re probably also too smart for your own good too. Especially on a backwater planet like this.”</p><p>“We can’t all be from a big city planet like Promethea, Roland.”</p><p>“If you think Promethea’s a nice place to be you’ve bought way too much into Atlas propaganda.”</p><p>It was hard not to. Promethea felt impossibly far away from Pandora in both distance and lifestyle. Pretty much the only thing the other planet ever got from Atlas was a box full of posters and a vending machine full of shiny silver death machines.</p><p>Even with her limited knowledge, Lilith was certain that she preferred the frontstabbing of Pandora to the backstabbing of Promethea though.</p><p>“Well, I’ll make sure to steer clear,” she slid down from the bed of the car, “But Dionysus? You’re all coming with me back there after we open the Vault and get that cash. It’s a real pricey place but if you can put your money where your mouth is you’ll have the time of your goddamn life.”</p><p>“I ain’t a real decadent guy,” Roland replied, “What could they have-”</p><p>“You love a good meal,” Lilith patted his stomach as she passed, “You haven’t lived until you’ve had a Dionysusian Grassfed Grade-A Greef cheeseburger. And for you, Mordecai, I guarantee that nothing you’ve drunk in your life can even begin to compare to the booze they have up there and Brick… well, alright, there’s a whole lot less fighting but the Caus are real cute until they grind them into Greef for the cheeseburgers. You’ve got a real big soft spot for cute things.”</p><p>Brick’s fondness for animals was a new facet of his personality Lilith and Roland’d just uncovered. Wasn’t news to Mordecai though. Him already used to the man currently cradling the formerly lost Skrappy under one arm and scratching at it fondly. Something he’d seen Brick attempt to do to Bloodwing at least once a day to moderate success. This time somehow unphased by the fact that normally skags are trying to remove as much flesh from his body as possible.</p><p>Regardless, he snarled, “I ain’t soft.”</p><p>That statement was undercut by Skrappy yipping and him barely containing a smile.</p><p>“Psh, you’d probably be a vegetarian if you wouldn’t die of malnourishment in a week,” Mordecai nodded at the little skag now wiggling to be let down.</p><p>Brick cuddled the skag closer to his stomach, “I jus’ like protecting things smaller than me.”</p><p>“Everything’s smaller than you, Brick,” Lilith pointed out.</p><p>Grunting, he stomped towards the car, “Y’all mean as hell. I’m leavin’ an’ nobody under six foot allowed in the cabin with me. Mordy, you’re drivin’.”</p><p>Mordecai following after him, Lilith could barely hear his last words “I think it’s cute” before the skinny man was stifled and crushed into Brick’s side. Now that was cute. Lilith hadn’t really had a long term relationship, just a few failed boyfriends and girlfriends in her teens to her massive disappointment.</p><p>She tried to console herself with “they’re old” but it wasn’t like Brick and Mordecai had known each other for a long time. They’d met on that bus and it was like two months later and they were like an old married couple.</p><p>Meanwhile, the best Lilith had gotten was a singular smile from Roland and then… whatever that whole business with Tannis was.</p><p>Well, one seemed more actively interested than the other, even if at least some of it was scientific curiosity…</p><p>Lilith pat Roland on the shoulder, “Hey, you go on with Brick and Mordecai. I’m gonna grab my own ride and stop by Tannis and let her do her examination or whatever. I think you guys can handle dropping off a pet skag.”</p><p>“You’re gonna go alone?” Roland sounded concerned.</p><p>“Oh my god, I’m a brain-melting Siren. I can handle walking across the desert all by myself, I promise,” Lilith rolled her eyes, “I know guys love playing white knight for me but, hate to break it to you, I’m more powerful than the entire rest of the group put together. Could even knock Brick on his ass if I wanted to. I’m not scared of one scientist.”</p><p>Roland opened his mouth like he was going to retort before snapping it shut and shaking his head with defeat, “Look, can I come for my own peace of mind?”</p><p>Sighing, Lilith walked over to the catch-a-ride and started digistructing a second runner, bright pink, “No, tell Brick and Mordecai where I’m going so they don’t think I’m ditching everyone. We’ll get drinks later as a group, okay? Promise.”</p><p>- - -</p><p>Lilith hoped that an hour's notice would be enough for Tannis’s requested heads-up.</p><p>At any rate she didn’t sound annoyed, at least any more than she usually does at having to interact with people so far below her intelligence level.</p><p>Maybe even a little excited considering she’d get to examine a Siren.</p><p>That paired with Roland’s poorly veiled jealousy was giving Lilith a bit of an ego boost.</p><p>She was trying to tamp it down but it was hard not to feel at least a little good about yourself with two extremely awkward people vying for your attention. Granted, either could be a false lead but hey, a lead’s a lead!</p><p>And imagine what kind of a romantic story that would make, meeting your partner while hunting for the Vault together?</p><p>Roland had been trying a little bit harder to be interactive with Lilith when they were driving alone. Answering all her random, inane questions that always flowed out of her like water. Threatening to drown anyone talking to her. It was something she had in common with Tannis, although hers were less… thinky.</p><p>As in now she knew Roland’s favorite food, favorite color, favorite place on his home planet, and favorite animal. Rakk egg sandwiches, green, the Rise N’ Grind, and this little kind of furry pet on Promethea called a “Mudgie.”</p><p>And he also knew her answers to the same questions. Parfaits, pink, a popular all-girls nightclub called ‘Goddesses’, and some phoenix-like bird from Dionysus called a ‘Firehawk.’</p><p>Last part wasn’t surprising to him, he’d seen her try to pet Bloodwing when Mordecai wasn’t looking a few dozen times.</p><p>Then helped her bandage her fingers and come up with an excuse for why she was hurt.</p><p>Tannis was much more of an unknown quantity but Lilith liked to think she was an optimist and inviting her over for a weird examination of her body was kind of like a date? Just a really, really weird one.</p><p>Smiling, she pressed her foot harder against the pedal and sent the runner flying off the ramp.</p><p>- - -</p><p>Tannis wasn’t entirely sure when Lilith would be calling back but “the next day” was a bit of a surprise.</p><p>Not unfathomable though. Vault Hunters are known for being erratic and unknowable so really any frame of time wouldn’t surprise her. Lilith could disappearfor eight years and randomly reappear and Tannis wouldn’t question it.</p><p>Most Vault Hunters Tannis had been subjected to over the years had been solitary creatures. Which seemed silly to her, when the optimal size for a Vault Hunting group was clearly either four or six. Idiots.</p><p>Despite this obvious perfect quantity, the majority travelled either completely alone or with one other companion whose humanity was negligible to their attachment to them. Smart-speak for half of them having wrangled themselves a “pet” skag.</p><p>Tannis has never understood the appeal of a “pet.” Should she feel herself lacking in the socialization department she could merely get in touch with her old ex, a handsome leather suitcase she’d found in a bandit camp which now contained all her notes on the Vault. He was always good for a nice, deep political debate on the ethics of deep sea fracking on Aquator.</p><p>But tonight would not consist of lively debate, it would consist of her small cabin being invaded by a woman who felt like an absolute assault on her senses.</p><p>Had she been in her pre-abandoned-and-extremely-traumatized state she might have correctly identified her feelings as “a crush.” But given her current state it was considered just another symptom of her brain’s constant desire to shutter all the windows and bar the doors to keep the proselytizing Normams from knocking on her door and asking if she’d heard the Good Word about our Lord and Savior, Big Pile of Meat we Found in the Wasteland.</p><p>Horrible weekend, gotten the worst food poisoning of her life from that barbeque-slash-baptism.</p><p>This should be easier than that, correct? At least this time no one was handing her a plate of unseasoned, barely cooked mystery meat.</p><p>But as Lilith knocked and entered, Tannis really found herself wishing she was in the middle of nowhere with a plate of contaminated, nearly-raw flesh. Hell, the burning light that seemed to emanate off of the Siren could have cooked it for her, allowing for a much safer but probably just as unenjoyable meal.</p><p>She choked it down as Lilith beamed at her, arms out wide, “Hellllllo, nurse!”</p><p>Tannis crinkled her nose at that demotion, “I have three doctorates.”</p><p>“No, it’s like…” Lilith stopped dead in her tracks, “It’s a reference? There was this old cartoon on the ECHOne- it’s just, it’s from a cartoon.”</p><p>“Was the person in the cartoon also a doctor being disrespected?” Tannis watched Lilith shrink down.</p><p>Although the effect was unintentional, Lilith being embarrassed was making her at least twenty-five percent less difficult to look at for Tannis. Was it the lack of intimidating one can feel from someone hunched over and giving her skaggy dog eyes?</p><p>“Uh, no, she’s- uh, this like. Busty blonde lady who’s just… this doctor’s nurse,” Lilith admitted before apologizing, “Uh, sorry?”</p><p>“I will accept your apology once,” Tannis replied, “Do not let it happen again.”</p><p>“Alright, Dr. Tannis,” Lilith put heavy emphasis on the title with a clap of her hands, “What’re we up to today?”</p><p>“I imagine the first half of your examination will be familiar to you,” Tannis pulled out a small stack of papers and what appeared to be a small medkit, “As a Vault Hunter, I imagine you’re extremely well acquainted with visits to the potentially proverbial triage tent. Although I may perhaps be the first one with actual, accredited medical care to see you in a while.”</p><p>“Heh, we barely even do that,” Lilith watched Tannis pull out some immaculately clean examining tools, “Roland’s got some combat medic training and can usually patch us up and Mordecai’s really good at popping dislocated limbs back into place. Did my right arm just last week.”</p><p>Tannis was agape, “Lilith, that is extremely dangerous! You can cause damage to your muscles, blood vessels, nerves, ligaments, and/or cartilage doing that. And that’s not even counting if there’s any broken bones.”</p><p>“Oh, Brick’s great at those,” Lilith continued like Tannis wasn’t gingerly checking over her formerly dislocated arm, “You wouldn’t think such a big guy could be that gentle but I think it just makes him be even more careful. Except he can’t do little bones like fingers.”</p><p>“I implore you, in the future, come to me instead,” Tannis stared at her intensely, “At the bare minimum seek out a vaguely qualified person like Dr. Zed. He may be a butcher but nine out of ten times he gets the limbs in the right sockets. Maybe eight out of ten.”</p><p>Lilith knew she couldn’t exactly make any promises so she deflected, gesturing around the room, “Aren’t you an archaeologist?”</p><p>Pulling out the stethoscope, she placed the flat cold part against Lilith’s chest, “When on Pandora, you must multitask. Also I took a few minors in the medical field, to impress a fellow classmate who had the most beautiful cuticles. Unfortunately, she found my general existence mildly to extremely off putting, for some reason. I don’t know why. I sat with her study group and explained everything in flawless detail. I didn’t even let her waste her breath with the layman’s edition. Blocked me on everything a day later, can you believe that?”</p><p>Lilith could believe that.</p><p>“Nah, why would anyone block you?” Lilith lied.</p><p>“Exactly,” Tannis huffed, noting down something on her paper before moving on. The bright light burning into Lilith’s eye as Tannis got way too close. Examining the pinpoint yellow eyes with intensity, “Some people simply cannot handle my brilliance.”</p><p>Lilith wanted to make a pun so, so bad but she had a feeling Tannis wasn’t someone who liked jokes. At least not during her examinations.</p><p>“You’re… definitely the ‘brightest’ person I know,” Lilith immediately failed to restrain herself.</p><p>But it didn’t seem to land with Tannis, “Are you scared of needles?”</p><p>“The appropriate amount?”</p><p>“Well then, some of these tests in the middle won’t be terribly fun for you, I’m afraid.”</p><p>- - -</p><p>Tannis stared at her a lot. Granted, Lilith wasn’t entirely sure if that was normal from her but she hadn’t seemed to do it to the boys.</p><p>Maybe she wasn’t used to “girl time.” Is this girl time? What they’re doing?</p><p>God, Lilith couldn’t remember the last time she had “girl time.”</p><p>Might have been a sleepover back on Dionysus while her age was still in the single digits. Some half-forgotten slumber party where Lilith braided her friend’s long brown hair while another painted her nails a gaudy red.</p><p>Now that was something she was certain Tannis had never experienced.</p><p>Looking down, Lilith’s looked at the pinpricks dotting her arm, the former contents of which were spread across a half dozen vials of blood that Tannis was currently putting into a little fridge, “I’ll leave those for later, blood tests can take a while after all.”</p><p>“Oh my god, I can’t feel my anything,” Lilith lamented, running a hand down her arm. Only barely feeling the sensation, like a ghost was pawing at her.</p><p>More than anything she felt the edge of the sharp edge of the rickety chair digging into her ass more and more as she succumbed to weakness. She’d always been pale but right now her blue tattoos were highlighter bright on her sheet white arm. Looking like sickly twisted veins threatening to burst through the surface.</p><p>“I am going to assume that was an attempt at humorous hyperbole,” Tannis grabbed her wrist and checked, “But if you truly cannot feel your arm then perhaps we should put off the second half of the testing for another day.”</p><p>“There’s a second half?!” Lilith croaked, “How many more fluids are you gonna drag out of me?”</p><p>“Significantly less going forward,” Tannis set aside one stack of papers for another, “I wish to observe your powers in action.”</p><p>For being an incredibly smart woman, Tannis didn’t see the problem at hand. Being that Lilith could barely lift said problematic hand.</p><p>“Uh, I’m gonna…” Lilith stared down at her limp arm, “We’re gonna have to do that another day, I don’t think I can even get my arm halfway up let alone walk through another dimension with my powers.”</p><p>Tannis looked miffed but she was far from a dumb woman, pursing her lips as her fingers tapped on the fridge.</p><p>“Suppose it can’t be helped. Occasionally in the pursuit of knowledge I find myself chasing things in an impractical order. Perhaps this is for the best, this will give me time to get the results from your various blood tests before we go any further.”</p><p>“What are you gonna do with my blood anyways?” Lilith asked the question she should have earlier before she let a slightly unhinged scientist take a sizable portion of her blood.</p><p>“Oh, routine stuff,” Tannis waved it off, “Checking the blood cell count, looking for abnormalities, figuring out if you have a conventional blood type, testing the blood’s reaction to various substances, taste test. The usual.”</p><p>“Wait what was that last one?”</p><p>“Taste test,” Tannis said.</p><p>“I’d ask if you’re kidding but I don’t really take you to be someone who like...” Lilith spun her free hand in a circle, “Does jokes.”</p><p>“Nonsense! I have an excellent sense of humor,” Tannis puffed up, brows furrowed as she sternly demanded, “Knock, knock!”</p><p>“Uh, who’s there?”</p><p>“Uranium-235.”</p><p>Lilith already knew she definitely wasn’t going to get this joke, “Uranium-235 who?”</p><p>Tannis looked proud of herself, “If you don’t open this door, I’m gonna split.”</p><p>The silence between them was utterly deafening. Even the fauna normally making a ruckus outside weren’t making a single noise.</p><p>No chittering, no screams.</p><p>Just two women and the terrible joke between them.</p><p>“Do you get it?” Tannis asked without waiting for the answer, “Uranium-235 is an isotope of uranium, it has the capability to sustain a fission chain reaction which is-”</p><p>Lilith cut her off there, “Let’s just say that I’m probably not going to understand a bit of your following explanation and save both of us the trouble. Where’d you even pick up a joke like that?”</p><p>“I took a class in advanced nuclear physics. You know, ‘for funsies’ as they say. Unfortunately to my dismay it turned out the professor was a bit of a ‘jokester’ and liked to sprinkle in his abhorrent attempts at comedy. Seems the other students found it endearing but I did not. He would often further torment me by making it an extra credit point to remember and write down one of his jokes on tests and I simply couldn’t avoid the allure of acquiring the elusive one hundred and one percent.”</p><p>“Is there anything you didn’t take a class on?”</p><p>“The arts,” Tannis scoffed, “No aptitude for creation and a disdain for music.”</p><p>“You don’t like music?” Lilith asked, eyebrow quirked.</p><p>“Why does everyone look at me like a one-headed kravenbock when I say that?” Tannis replied, “Don’t answer because I do not care. If you cannot display your powers tonight feel free to leave at your leisure so long as that means you’ll be gone soon.”</p><p>That was the piece of Tannis that Lilith just hadn’t puzzled out. She’d been invited here, they’d had a mostly good time sans the awkwardness that seemed inherent to interacting with Tannis, but she was still being rushed out the door.</p><p>Well, everyone’s got their limits. Maybe Tannis’s social energy was just really low.</p><p>It didn’t bug Lilith as much as it would bug most people. Despite the abruptness of the woman she could still sense something within her that wanted her around in general and that was enough. Even if the day was over.</p><p>“Don’t worry, I’ll get out of your ha-”</p><p>Lilith’s outro was cut short as her attempt to stand immediately failed and she collapsed on the ground in a groaning heap.</p><p>Ice cold and surprisingly strong hands grabbed her under the arm and hauled her back onto the shitty chair. Pressed against her forehead, Tannis was way too close again and unless Lilith was reading her expression wrong she looked a little queasy.</p><p>Pulling away as quickly as she’d swooped in close, Tannis went back to digging in the small fridge, “You’re a bit light headed from the blood loss. High sugar fruits should assist with your recovery, I have a few cans…”</p><p>Lilith decided to not check the expiration date as she cracked it open, stabbing at the mushy contents with the plastic fork she was handed. Quieted for a while as she grew a bit frenzied. The unfamiliar blue fruit suddenly the most delicious thing she’s ever eaten.</p><p>As she finished up the staring was back. Tannis all but pressed against the farthest wall and looking at her like a captive ball of lightning. Burning her green eyes out of her skull.</p><p>Thinking back to earlier, Lilith wondered if maybe this was just Tannis’s strange way of badly concealing a crush.</p><p>Experimentally, she smiled at her.</p><p>This time it was Tannis’s turn to collapse to the ground.</p>
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